In his first bail hearing since he was charged with the Dec. 17 murder of 54-year-old Ramona Johnstone in her Woodbury apartment, Richard Santiago, 50, was denied any reduction in the $1 million bail set at the time of his arrest just a few days after Johnstone was found dead.

The existing bail âis an appropriate amount under the facts and circumstances,â said Superior Court Judge M. Christine Allen-Jackson, noting that Santiago had at least four prior indictable convictions, including one in which Johnstone was a testifying witness.

Santiago was found guilty in 2006 in the 2004 stabbing death of a friend of Johnstone outside of the South Broad Street apartment complex where Johnstone and Santiago both lived.

Richard Santiago, 60, of Camden, was charged with the murder of a woman at at Woodbury apartment complex who was witness to a previous killing at the same complex, for which he was on parole.NJ Dept. of Corrections

Santiago was sentenced to nine years for that crime and was released from state prison in May 2012. After being released, he was living with a sister in Camden.

Then in December, Johnstone was found unconscious in her apartment by an acquaintance. She had been stabbed 15 times, Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Laurie Cimino said today.

The prosecution believes Johnstoneâs role as a witness in Santiagoâs 2006 trial âis the reason he killed her,â Cimino said.

Arguing against any bail reduction, Cimino said video from a surveillance camera at Johnstoneâs Woodbury Court apartment shows a person believed to be Santiago entering the victimâs apartment carrying a red bag on Dec. 17, and other surveillance cameras on Broad Street in Woodbury show what appears to be the same man walking along the street, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Santiagoâs daughter-in-law, who lives in Woodbury, told investigators that he showed up unexpectedly on Dec. 17, saying he had to catch an 8 p.m. bus, Cimino said of findings in the case.

A Camden store surveillance video the next day shows Santiago carrying the red bag, Cimino said. Detectives learned heâd slept at a Camden residence where the bedding he used was seized and is being tested for DNA, she said.

Detectives also interviewed a brother-in-law of Santiago, who said he encountered Santiago in Camden carrying a bag of clothing he said had to be thrown away, Cimino said.

Ramona Johnstone of Woodbury was stabbed to death in the woobury Court Apartments Dec. 17, 2012.

The two are seen on a Camden service station surveillance video where Santiago threw the clothing in a Dumpster, the assistant prosecutor said. Trash collectors emptied the Dumpster shortly afterward and the clothing was not recovered, Cimino said. However, the red bag Santiago was carrying has been recovered and is also being tested for DNA, she said.

In addition to the conviction for the 2004 murder of Richard King, Santiago has convictions for larceny in 1973, heroin possession in 1974 and conspiracy to commit burglary in 1990, Cimino said. Santiago is currently in state prison on a parole violation unrelated to the Johnstone homicide and is not eligible for release on the VOP until September, she said.